Hi Master Gardeners,
To make a long story short, I will give you a few facts as I see
them. As usual there is much more to read about this topic. A good
starting place isa link on the American Nurserymen and Landscape
Association :
http://www.anla.org/industry/patents/plantpatent.htm
A trademark is a special name or identity for a plant (or many other
things that we see and use everyday). The idea is to identify something
as "unique and special" with a name. What is trademarked is the NAME,
not the actual plant. The trademark identifies a specific plant and source.
A patent, now available for plants, by registration and compliance
with US governemnt regulations, can be obtained for a unique and
different plant. A patent then means the plant is restricted in
propagation. "Dallas Blues" is a new cultivar of swithgrass (Panicum
virgatum) that has Plant Patent 11,202. Propagators must pay 18 cents
per plant to the developer for each plant they sell. (Many nurseries
list this fact on their price sheet and add the cost to the buyer.) This
is a rather high royality fee, most herbaceous plants are 5-10 cents.
Money from the propagation royalties goes back into reaserch and
development for more new plants. It is illegal for anyone to propagate
Dallas Blues without paying the 18 cent royalty fee to the owner of the
plant patent.
If a plant is not patented, anyone can propagate and sell it.
Mary Meyer
June wrote:
> When a plants or seeds have a trademark, what are the restrictions, if
> any, of reproducing that plant for retail? In the Core class, I
> remember that woody plants can not be reproduced but it was ok for
> other plant material. My main concern is the reproduction for retail.
> When I went into the Extension web site for a search, nothing came up.
> Thanks for your feed back.
> June
>
>
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--
Mary H. Meyer, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Horticultural Science
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
3675 Arboretum Drive
Chaska, MN 55318
Voice: 952-443-1447
Fax: 952-443-2521
meyer023@umn.edu <mailto:meyer023@umn.edu>
http://horticulture.coafes.umn.eduhttp://horticulture.coafes.umn.edu/miscanthushttp://www.mg.umn.edu
